Avachocolate

On the topic of big chocolate suppliers....I took a class at the Chocolate Academy in Singapore....right inside the Callebaut / Cacaobarry factory....they gave us all the Cacaobarry chocolate we wanted to play with but still would not sell us any..... Yesterday a rep for a Chocovic/ Callebault/ Cacaobarry distributor came to my shop....not sure why, as she did have no clue about the different chocolates she was offering, nor did she know any of their prices....she basically just handed me some samples (which I did not need as I knew her products better than her) and told me to "send her an email if I needed more information or prices".....still not sure why she even came to my shop... Strange business models indeed....

Proper lighting (and photoshop) go a long way towards a nice shiny picture.....but it certainly helps to start out with a nice sparkly shell...

Heresy ! ...Comments like that may get you banned from this discussion...lol

@pastrygirl.....the benefit of having my own business....I can organize it the way I want (but of course the electricity bill comes out of my pocket too...)

@pastrygirl ...with pastry you have a bit more leeway with temperatures (unless you do a lot of laminated doughs or need chocolate decorations). But for chocolate work you really have to stick to some very specific parameters in regards to humidity / temperature.....if not then you will just waste a lot of time. My chocolate lab is airconditioned & humidity controlled 24/7/365...even when I am on vacation....just no way around it if you want consistent results, but it is certainly murder on your electricity bill....

Same here....high humidity usually means matte finish, bad snap, bad mold release, cocoa butter colors sticking to molds....pretty much all the bad stuff you dont want... High temp = bad.....high temp + high humidity = really bad Also I find it too tricky to work between 18-20 C... Just my experience, your mileage may vary....

68-71 works great for me...I find the humidity makes a big difference, I keep mine at around 35-40%....anything over 50% and things get weird with my chocolates...

Cool....learned something new today :-) Thanks for investigating that....

@Kerry Beal Have never seen it done with fondant...I guess these days everything is possible with the right technology (and wallet...)..lol

Custom made transfer sheets on white chocolate...then a slight curve to conform to the eclair shape...that technique has been around for quite a few years for eclairs...I think Christophe Adams made it famous with his Mona Lisa prints on his eclairs..

@ptw1953.....dumplings indeed ..ha ha @Lisa Shock....I usually wrap mine in cling film (helps with the condensation buildup in tropical climates), never had one leak but would imagine it to be quite a mess...

+1 for cabin carry-on in a soft cooler bag...as a side note dont use the blue plastic ice packs with the liquid inside...airport security generally does not like those at all... Try to get some smaller disposable gel-type packets ( frozen solid they keep the bag cool for about 8-10 hours at least). I just took a bunch of chocolate from asia on a 2 day trip halfway around the globe to europe and they made it just fine...

Same here....have not tried it but the Cacao Barry Zephyr Caramel is great....btw I could get the Callebaut Gold in europe for about 35 euro / 2.5 kg. Depending on the intended use I usually also just caramelize some white chocolate (bit gritty but works great in a crunchy layer for cakes/ pralines)

Thank you :-)

@ChocoMom....thanks for the compliments, appreciate it :-) Sorry I forgot to put the fillings : #1 (bronze with orange stripe)...yuzu & ginger jelly / earl grey ganache #2 (gold/chrome with black on mold)....salted caramel / chai ganache #3 (red with white stripe)....pineapple & ginger confit / passionfruit Jivara ganache #4 ( green, blue & orange)....spiced chocolate caramel / espresso peanut butter crunch

New to this forum, great source of information here :-) I thought I'd post a few of my bonbons as introduction. Andy (European pastry chef and chocolatier living and working in Vietnam)

Thanks....great forum here, finally got around to making an account and posting :-) At Morato's class we used the silk mostly to temper the chocolate for the shells, but he also recommended to add it to the ganache for setting it quicker...nice piece of equipment !

Yes....very nice guy and extremely kowledgeable and at the same time humble....I learned a lot from him, highly recommend his class for anybody that has a chance to take it

I took a chocolate class with Ramon Morato at the Chocolate Academy Singapore last year....he was raving about the EZtemper and thats all we used...did not even turn on the Selmi except for the enrobing pieces.